Bovine TB: Consultation on revised guidance for licensing badger control areas Response from the Zoological Society of London

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has a long history of scientific engagement with the management of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in British cattle and wildlife. ZSL is both a scientific research institution and a conservation NGO. As such, for this consultation we have commented on both the scientific and the conservation issues relating to the expansion of

badger culling to a larger number of areas of England. ZSL does not support the government’s policy of culling badgers in an attempt to control cattle TB. While recognising that badgers can and do transmit TB to cattle, we note

that the best estimates indicate that approximately 6% of TB-affected cattle herds become

infected from badgers, with the remaining 94% acquiring infection from other herds1. We

therefore consider the management of cattle-to-cattle transmission to have the highest

priority for TB control. We recognise that TB eradication requires clearing infection from the

badger population as well as from cattle herds, but suggest that for this purpose vaccination

(which reduces TB prevalence in badger populations2,3) is more promising than culling